


changkyu | the day we meet again

by plincess_cho (ai_hao)



Series: 잠들고 싶어 (In My Dream) | Changmin x Kyuhyun [14]
Category: DBSK | Tohoshinki | TVfXQ | TVXQ, Super Junior
Genre: Always, ChangKyu - Freeform, Fluff, Gen, because always, non-au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-27
Updated: 2019-04-27
Packaged: 2020-02-08 13:17:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18624031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ai_hao/pseuds/plincess_cho
Summary: Kyuhyun's coming home, and Changmin finally feels like he's complete





	changkyu | the day we meet again

**Author's Note:**

> This is the sequel to ["The Night the Stars Fell."](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10710048)
> 
> Welcome home, Kyuhyun ♡ These last two years weren't the same without you!

Changmin doesn’t go to collect Kyuhyun from the public service with the other Super Junior members, nor does he follow them to Gwanghwamun when he meets the fans. Kyuhyun had suggested it, but Changmin had refused. Super Junior would be filming, and he didn’t want all of the extra attention. Kyuhyun hadn’t made it sound super appealing either. _“The hyungs are all going to talk too much and make bad jokes for the camera, and then they’ll complain about having to share the appearance fee with you for_ Super TV _,”_ he’d said when they’d discussed it.

Changmin doesn’t meet them for dinner either when they come back to the company building for another filming, but Yunho does. He tells Changmin later that he’d been walking through the cafe and had heard a bunch of familiar voices yelling. It had turned out to be Super Junior, and he and his manager had gone to offer their congratulations for Kyuhyun’s return.

Changmin doesn’t see Kyuhyun until the after-party when they’re all crowded in the dorms with the cameras put away. The dorms had always been a no-camera zone, the one place where they had always been allowed to be as embarrassing and obnoxious as they wanted. That had been Super Junior’s rule when they all lived together, Changmin remembers: Do whatever you want in the dorms, but don’t let any of it leave. That’s when the problems come: when things leave the dorms.

He meets the EXO kids in the hallway as they wander down from the eleventh floor to offer their congratulations and partake in the free booze. Changmin knows Minseok had left for the training camp that morning to start his own enlistment journey. He’d taken him for dinner the week before, presenting him with parting gifts of a military-grade watch and a pack of warm socks for the winter nights. Minseok had presented a brave face, but when Changmin had hugged him goodbye, he’d crumpled a little bit.

 _“Tell me it isn’t as bad as everyone says,”_ he’d whispered.

But Changmin hadn’t been able to. He’d just squeezed him tightly and whispered back, _“You’ll do great, kid. I know you will.”_

The guests inside all cheer when EXO walks in, but Changmin lets himself in with significantly less fanfare than the others, quietly slipping out of his shoes and pulling the slippers he keeps at Kyuhyun’s out of the closet. The other Super Junior members all welcome him in, but they all know that he’s spent far more time here in the past four years than they have. Really, he’s the one who should be welcoming them.

He walks in to find the main room stuffed with people and every available flat surface littered with take-away containers and soju bottles. Changmin finds Siwon first. He’s off to the side talking with Sehun, and his eyes light up when he sees Changmin.

“Shim!”

“Young master!”

They both laugh, and Siwon reaches out to pull him into a hug. They chat for a bit before Siwon has to run off to another filming. Siwon gives him an encouraging smile and a thumbs up like he’s the one going off to work, and Changmin just smiles to himself. Siwon’s optimism and strength had been two of the few things that had helped him endure his own enlistment period.

He talks with a few of the other members before finally locating Kyuhyun. He’s sitting on the couch with Donghae practically in his lap and Hyukjae draped over his shoulder. They’re watching something on Hyukjae’s phone and laughing hysterically, and Changmin realizes he hasn’t seen Kyuhyun this free in a long time. Kyuhyun looks up as the video ends and meets Changmin’s gaze with sparkling eyes and a wide smile.

“Hey,” he says.

“Hey yourself.”

Hyukjae extricates himself from Kyuhyun and stands up to throw his arms around Changmin. Both he and Donghae are pretty far gone, and it doesn’t take much to direct them somewhere else. They wander off in search of more food, more alcohol, or more people to show the video to, allowing Changmin to sink down into the couch next to Kyuhyun.

“Welcome home,” he says, his voice soft and low for only Kyuhyun to hear.

“We did it, Chwang,” he whispers back. “We really did it.” His eyes start to tear, but he blinks them away as someone calls his name.

They spend the rest of the evening like that, nestled into the couch as people keep coming up to Kyuhyun to congratulate him. Kyuhyun shakes a lot of hands, gives a lot of hugs, and dishes out a lot of programs to meet up. “I was in public service,” he grumbles under his breath to Changmin. “They could’ve met up with me at any time during these two years but didn’t, and now they only want to go out for the publicity.”

Changmin nods in sympathy. There’s a reason the two of them rarely went out to eat in public during their service periods. They’d both tried to keep low profiles except for attending Super Junior concerts, and it had worked. The company had sternly warned them that scandals during their military enlistments would be dealt with even more harshly than regular scandals, and neither had wanted even the hint of something troublesome.

Especially Kyuhyun. Changmin remembers talking to him after he had completed his four-week stint at boot camp. Kyuhyun had always felt self conscious about enlisting into public service instead of something more rigorous like the accident that had almost killed him was his fault. As a result, he’d tried to avoid all media and fan attention outside of Super Junior events for two solid years, which had been quite the feat. _“It’s already bad enough that I’m doing this,”_ he’d said. _“If I get into a scandal, I won’t have anything to come back to.”_ Changmin had understood his fear: Even in the two years TVXQ had been enlisted, so many new groups had sprung up seemingly overnight that he and Yunho had often wondered if they’d be able to return from another hiatus. So many things had happened with Super Junior since Kyuhyun’s last comeback with them that Kyuhyun’s fears about not having a group to return to hadn’t been completely unfounded.

But they’ve made it. They’ve made it through hiatuses, scandals, trials, and now enlistment.

The night goes on, and slowly all of the guests venture back to their own homes with Kyuhyun and Changmin waving goodbye from their spots on the couch. Kyuhyun lifts a wine glass in salute as the last person closes the door, leaving the two of them alone in the empty dorm. They survey the damage: Nothing has been broken, but there are take-away containers and plastic cutlery scattered all over the dorm along with empty soju bottles and a variety of napkins. Changmin knows they should at tidy up so the aunties coming tomorrow won’t have a disaster to deal with, but right now he just wants to lean against his best friend and bask in the significance of today.

“We’re done,” Kyuhyun says. “Nine years, and we’re finally done.” He reaches for the wine bottle on the coffee table and pours himself another glass before refilling Changmin’s glass. “Cheers.”

Their glasses clink, and they both take a drink. Changmin can feel the buzz of all the alcohol he’s consumed tonight, and he feels warm. It finally feels like all of the missing pieces of his life are finally falling back into place after four years of being apart.

_Four years._

They hadn’t even spent those years apart. He remembers telling Kyuhyun that he had spent  most of his vacation time  during his service with Kyuhyun, and Kyuhyun telling him the same. That had been part of the reason why Changmin had moved into the same apartment complex a few years back after all: to be physically closer together.

And yet, Kyuhyun is finally _back_ to the life that they had shared for so many years. They’re meeting with some people from the company tomorrow to talk about what duet they should sing for the SMTown concert this summer, they’re talking about doing an SM Station song together, they’re talking about existing _together_ in both their public and private lives once again.

“It’s good to have you back,” Changmin says simply.

Normally, Kyuhyun would reply with a snarky _“I just saw you yesterday!”_ but tonight he says simply, “It’s good to be back.” A drink of his wine. “With you.” Kyuhyun leans against him, his head resting against Changmin’s. “It’s too bad that Minho couldn’t be here.”

“Yeah,” Changmin replies. It had been hard  sending him off , and they had both teared up on the drive home from the training camp.

The two of them sit in silence for a good while, sipping at their wine and nearly falling asleep. Finally, they finish the bottle and decide they better clean up before they get too tired. Changmin collects all of the alcohol bottles, neatly lining them up on the countertop to be recycled later, while Kyuhyun shoves all of the food garbage into a trash bag. They set their glasses in the sink and fill them with water to keep the red wine from staining before finally heading to bed.

Changmin knows Kyuhyun has a big day tomorrow. Their meeting with the company is only the first of many things on his agenda to catapult him back into idol life. There will be talk of solos and performances and Super Junior’s comeback and variety programs to join and MC positions to fill. He’ll have a lot of adjusting to do, just like Changmin had back when he was discharged, but Changmin has no doubts that Kyuhyun will come through splendidly. They’ve been through hell and back in the thirteen years that they’ve known each other, and at this new chapter in Kyuhyun’s life, Changmin will be there for him for whatever he needs. After all, they’re  going to grow old together , and this is just the beginning.

They fall asleep like they always do when they’re together: Kyuhyun falls asleep first with his arm around Changmin’s shoulders, and Changmin nestles close with his nose buried in his neck and his arm around Kyuhyun’s waist. Right before he falls asleep, he breathes a sigh of relief. Kyuhyun is home. Changmin is home.

And they’re finally home _together._

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are love ♡
> 
> ♡ [twitter](twitter.com/plincess_cho)  
> ♡ [tumblr](plincess-cho.tumblr.com)  
> ♡ [other changkyu fics](https://archiveofourown.org/works?utf8=%E2%9C%93&commit=Sort+and+Filter&work_search%5Bsort_column%5D=revised_at&include_work_search%5Brelationship_ids%5D%5B%5D=293470&work_search%5Bother_tag_names%5D=&work_search%5Bexcluded_tag_names%5D=&work_search%5Bcrossover%5D=&work_search%5Bcomplete%5D=&work_search%5Bwords_from%5D=&work_search%5Bwords_to%5D=&work_search%5Bdate_from%5D=&work_search%5Bdate_to%5D=&work_search%5Bquery%5D=&work_search%5Blanguage_id%5D=&user_id=ai_hao)  
> ♡ [changkyu master threads 2017-2019](https://twitter.com/plincess_cho/status/974351218305896455)


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